Fawad Chaudhry baffled at 'judicial activism'

  • Questions court's decisions to ban TikTok and remove NBP president
30 Jun, 2021

Karachi: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has stressed the need for judicial reforms, highlighting the recent decision by the Sindh High Court (SHC) to ban the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok as well as the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) decision to remove the NBP president.

In a tweet, the minister said that "my head is spinning after reading the decision", adding that Pakistan will never be able to flourish unless judicial reforms are implemented.

"What are our courts doing? The country has already suffered losses worth billions of dollars due to judicial activism," Chaudhry tweeted.

Earlier, the SHC ordered the Pakistan Telecommu­nica­tion Authority (PTA) to suspend access to TikTok in the country till July 8 over immoral, objectionable content.

IHC orders removal of NBP President Arif Usmani

According to a written order of the court, a representative of PTA had asserted that they had communicated with TikTok, which assured them that they shall regulate the content posted on TikTok in Pakistan in line with local laws and shall block accounts spreading vulgarity.

However, TikTok had not abided by the constant undertakings and assurances, the order read. This is the second time this year that the Chinese app has been banned in Pakistan.

SHC directs PTA to suspend TikTok operations

In March, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) had banned the app after receiving complaints against immoral content on the app. However, the PHC lifted the ban in April and directed PTA to ensure that immoral content is not uploaded to the app.

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